Retired “guide” Jane Whitefield is settling into her new life as a doctor’s wife. But when Christine Monahan, a scared pregnant girl, comes looking for help and a bomb blast soon follows, Jane jumps right back into her old skin. Determined to hide the young girl from her abusive ex-boyfriend, Richard Beale, Jane outwits the four henchmen on their trail. Before long, she has Christine set up in a new place with a new name to await the birth of her child. Once the baby is born, Jane will come back and move her to a permanent residence.

Meanwhile, Richard Beale’s very rich parents make their demands: Richard must give them a grandchild or lose his inheritance. Richard fakes an email, and when Christine slips up, his thugs kidnap her away to the Beale estate, where she is forced to marry. She soon gives birth to a son and hatches a plan for escape, but the plan goes awry, and Christine is shipped away to Mexico as a sex slave. It isn’t long before Jane finds her missing and follows the trail to the Beale estate, but will she be able to rescue both the baby and Christine - and at what risk to her own life?

Runner is the sixth installment of Thomas Perry’s Jane Whitefield novels and was written after nearly a ten-year hiatus from the character. In the years between, Perry has penned other successful, stand-alone novels. But don’t be put off if you’re not familiar with Jane. Runner reads just as well on its own as part of the series. For those who are interested, the first five - Vanishing Act, Dance for the Dead, Shadow Woman, The Face-Changers and Blood Money - are all still available in paperback.